There’s an argument that once your tech company institutes a dividend, you should run away, and fast. But shareholders in the First Trust Nasdaq Technology Dividend Index Fund (TDIV) — that’s this index’s fund — have been happy in 2013: This ETF is up 9.9% year to date, outpacing the Nasdaq Composite’s 7.3%. Top performers YTD include Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), up 47%, and International Business Machines (IBM), up about 10%.

About Focus on Funds

As exchange-traded funds and other investing vehicles have ballooned in number, the task of figuring out what works well and what doesn’t has only gotten harder. Barrons.com’s Focus on Funds looks under the hood of ETFs, mutual funds and hedge funds for overlooked values, actionable ideas and the latest pitfalls for fund investors.